In Sports from United Press International

INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- In a sport that has been dominated by young drivers this season, Bill Elliott won one for the old guys Sunday as the 46-year-old captured the Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Elliott, who won the Daytona 500 in 1985 and 1987, has enjoyed a NASCAR Winston Cup revival since he sold his team to Ray Evernham prior to last season. It was the second victory in a row for Elliott, who also won last week's 500-mile race at Pocono, Pa.

The top 30 cars finished on the lead lap, but it was Elliott who put his Dodge at the front of the field for most of the day. He led 93 of 160 laps.

With 10 laps remaining, he was able to get under Wallace down the backstretch and completed the winning pass in the third turn.

A late caution period for debris set up a four-lap shootout to the checkered flag, but Elliott was able to pull away on the restart. It also gave Evernham his third Brickyard 400 win but his first as a team owner.

Beem wins in wild finish

CASTLE ROCK, Colo., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Rich Beem rolled in a 15-foot eagle putt at the 17th hole Sunday and then survived an incredible closing rush by Steve Lowery to win The International by a single point.

It was the second victory of Beem's PGA Tour career and came despite one of the most amazing stretches of golf in the circuit's history.

Lowery holed two shots from the fairway in a three-hole stretch, one of them for a double-eagle at the 17th, and was left with a 10-foot birdie putt at the final hole that would have given him the victory.

But that putt slipped by the left edge of the cup, leaving Beem as the champion.

In a tournament that uses a modified Stableford scoring system, Beem finished with 19 points for the day and 44 for the tournament. The 19 points were one short of the single-round tournament record.

Lowery, needing a two-point birdie at the final hole to pull off what would have been a shocking victory, wound up with 16 points for the day and 43 for the tournament. Mark Brooks finished a distant third with 33 points while the all-star twosome of Greg Norman and Ernie Els tied for fourth at 27 points.

Beem birdied seven holes from the fourth through the 12th to get to 39 points and seemingly wrap up the tournament.

Lowery went to the par-5 14th with just 29 points, but after hitting his second shot into the edge of a pond at that hole, he was able to splash his third shot onto the green and made the birdie putt.

That put him 31 points and he promptly picked up five more when he holed his second shot from the fairway at the par-4 15th for an eagle. Up ahead at the 17th, Beem responded to Lowery's charge with an eagle of his own that boosted his total to 44. And when Lowery bogeyed the par-3 16th, Beem had a nine-point advantage and an almost certain victory.

But from the fairway at the 17th, Lowery hit a 6-iron that landed about six feet short of the cup and trickled into the hole for a double-eagle that gave him eight points. It was the third double-eagle in tournament history.

With Beem watching from behind the green, Lowery hit an excellent second shot to the 18th green before missing the birdie putt.

On the Senior Tour, Hubert Green defeated Hale Irwin on the seventh hole of a sudden death playoff to win the Long Island Classic. Mi Hyun Kim won the Wendy's Championship on the LPGA Tour and the United States fought off a rally by the Great Britain & Ireland team to win the Curtis Cup, 11-7.

Twins rally for straight victory

MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Corey Koskie was hit in the chest with a throw home in the bottom of the 10th inning Sunday and when the ball bounced away, teammate Torii Hunter was able to score the winning run as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Kansas City Royals, 5-4.

It was Minnesota's fifth straight victory as the Twins storm toward a likely division championship.

Koskie was stopped in his tracks and dropped to the artificial turf. He remained there for several minutes before being taken off the field on a cart.

Hunter led off the 10th with an infield hit off Scott Mullen (3-3) and David Ortiz singled to extend his hitting streak to 17 games before Dustan Mohr walked to load the bases.

The Royals brought on Jason Grimsley and stationed right fielder Michael Tucker in front of second base as a fifth infielder. Grimsley struck out Doug Mientkiewicz to bring up Koskie, who hit a one-hopper along the first base line.

First baseman Chan Perry dove for the ball, caught it and landed on first base. He scrambled to his feet to try to throw out Hunter at the plate, but his peg drilled Koskie in the chest.

San Francisco hit three straight home runs for the first time since July 22, 2001 against Arizona. Every Giants starter, including pitcher Kirk Rueter, had a hit.

Rueter (10-6) won his third straight start despite allowing five runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. The Giants did get a stellar effort from their bullpen as Felix Rodriguez tossed 1 2/3 hitless innings and Tim Worrell followed with two scoreless frames.

Pittsburgh starter Kris Benson (4-6) surrendered seven runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings and was tagged with his second loss in three outings.

Craig Wilson homered twice off Rueter, but the Pirates lost for the ninth time in 12 games.

TORONTO, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Guillermo Canas of Argentina capped one of the best weeks of his career Sunday with a straight-sets victory over 12th-seeded American Andy Roddick to capture his first Masters Series title at the $2.95 million Toronto event.

The 24-year-old Canas made the best of his break point chances to post a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Roddick. He became the first Argentine to win in Canada since Guillermo Vilas in 1976 and picked up a $392,000 winner's check.

Canas converted the second of three break chances in the first set at 4-4, then served out the set. Roddick, who turns 20 on Aug. 30, bounced back in the second game of the second set and held serve at love for a 2-1 lead.

The Argentine battled back and broke at love to go up 6-5, serving out the match with three aces and a finishing volley. He was cheered on by a rowdy group of supporters.

Roddick and Canas are the top two players in match wins on the ATP Tour this year. Canas improved to 43-19 with a 16-5 mark on hard courts. Roddick fell to 44-14, 26-7.

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Top seed Venus Williams rolled on to her third straight Acura Classic title Sunday with an easy victory over an ailing Jelena Dokic.

Williams, who has won 20 of her last 22 matches, followed last week's victory up the coast in Stanford with a 6-2, 6-2 win over the sixth-seeded Yugoslavian, who developed an overnight stomach virus.

The 55-minute match started even at 2-2 before Williams ran off four straight games to take the opening set. She raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set before Dokic broke. But Williams bounced right back and put away the match to earn the $115,000 top prize.

The 22-year-old American captured her sixth championship of the season and 27th of her career, also extending her winning streak to nine matches.

Williams will remain second behind younger sister Serena in the WTA Tour rankings. Venus' only losses since May have come against Serena in the finals of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Warm Emblem wins Haskell

OCEANPORT, N.J., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- War Emblem outclassed a field of five Sunday at Monmouth Park, posting a wire-to-wire win at the $1 million Haskell Invitational.

The winner of the first two legs of the Triple Crown faced little competition as he returned to the track for the first time since a disappointing loss in the Belmont Stakes.

Four horses were morning scratches, leaving just four to challenge War Emblem, which also had been expected to skip the 1 1/8-mile race following the death of owner Prince Ahmed Salman on July 21.

But Bob Baffert reconsidered and the 3-year-old presented his trainer with a belated wedding gift. The 2-5 favorite coasted to a four-length victory under Victor Espinoza, who also was aboard for all three Triple Crown races.

War Emblem won in 1:48.1, the 10th-fastest time in Haskell history, and paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10. Magic Weisner was second under Mike Luzzi and returned $2.80 and $2.10. Like A Hero showed for $2.10.

Liberty clinches post-season spot

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Vickie Johnson scored 20 points for the second straight game and Crystal Robinson added 16 Sunday as the New York Liberty won for the seventh time in nine games with a 71-58 victory over the reeling Charlotte Sting.

New York moved two games ahead of Washington for the top spot in the East and clinched a berth in the playoffs. The Liberty, the hottest team in the East, face the Mystics in a home-and-home series Thursday and Friday.

Johnson and Phillips each had five points in a 10-2 run that gave the Liberty the lead for good at 43-38 with 15:14 remaining. Charlotte Smith responded with a three-pointer, but New York ripped off the next eight points for a 51-41 cushion with just over 12 minutes left.

Charlotte got no closer than eight points the rest of the way. The Sting have dropped a season-high five straight games and are in third place, 3 1/2 games behind New York.

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